Is this an intolerance or something else?

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I have had some stomach problems (gastritis) in the past and so am fairly careful with what I eat and avoid foods I know can trigger a reaction.

I eat porridge most days and have realised that before I've even finished the bowl I have a mild stomach ache. This has probably happened for a long time but I've ignored it.

I get the same ache when I drink tea but I had put it down to caffeine and removed it from my diet.

Now I'm wondering if I actually have an intolerance to milk.

I had childhood eczema, and suffer with asthma so it's possible I have an issue with dairy.

Would symptoms come on so quickly if it's an intolerance?

Symptoms can appear that quickly yes. I would maybe book a gp appt and get some testing done or try some lactose free milk for a while and see if that helps. Most supermarket sell a pretty good range of lactose free products now

Testing isn't always effective...best to remove diary for a while and see what happens. Make sure you get enough calcium and protein. Most likely lactose, so lactose free milk would be ok, or you could play super safe and try oat or nut milk ( if the problem is the proteins in diary rather than the sugar, then soy can give problems also)

Oh no. I dont want to go dairy free again 😭. I did it when I was breastfeeding because of DC's eczema, and hated it.

You can get lactose free products that aren't soy or anything - tastes like real milk/cheese/ yoghurt but is processed slightly differently. If you can't find any in the fridges check the long life milks. I think Sainsburys sells long life lf milk for £1.40 a litre just to give you a ballpark price 🙂